August is National Breastfeeding Month, as established in 2011 by the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee, an independent nonprofit which brings together over 130 organizations which collaborate to "drive efforts for policy and practices that create a landscape of breastfeeding support across the United States."
Breastfeeding is the subject of numerous recommendations from professional organizations, including the World Health Organization and the Academy of American Pediatrics; however, the practice is contraindicated in individuals diagnosed with HIV, Hepatitis C, and a number of other conditions. (DynaMed, 2024)
Breastfeeding is a source of pride and of conflict in new parents. Advice to new parents abounds, but not all of it is accurate. An August 2025 article in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior looks at TikTok videos related to breastfeeding, assessing whether they are evidence-based and accurate. As with any other health topic, breastfeeding information on social media can be misrepresented, and misinformation may be shared without a critical eye.
In their study, Parra et al. created a new TikTok account in order to avoid algorithm bias, and searched the hashtag #breastfeeding to find content to include. The videos examined were limited to English language only, and videos which addressed breastfeeding or breast milk informatively. Additionally, videos included audio or text explaining the content. Coders in the research team reviewed the content collected, tagging informational content as evidence-based (EB), nonevidence-based (NEB), or misinformation. The research team also collected engagement data to assess the reach of each video, in terms of the likes, views, comments, saves and shares each video received. Analysis took place over a period of one month. (Parra et al., 2025)
The study indicates that the breadth of views and likes on the average TikTok video on breastfeeding indicates the promise of this platform for promoting health communication. The majority of videos included in this study were EB. However, "there were no statistically significant differences in engagement and reach between EB and NEB videos," (Parra et al., 2025). The majority of TikTok users posting NEB videos included mentions home remedies and herbal galactogogues (substances that increase breast milk production) which have not been rigorously studied. While NEB videos were not the majority of breastfeeding-focused videos examined in this study, this content is likely to be viewed by those who plan to or are already breastfeeding, and may shape attitudes about breastfeeding as well as breastfeeding behavior. (Parra et al, 2025)
The authors acknowledge the following limitations of their study: 1) it was focused only on the accuracy of the video content, and did not analyze the content or quality of the communication; 2) only English language videos were included in the study; 3) the diversity of individuals featured in the videos examined -- in terms of race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, income or education attainment -- was not objectively evaluated; 4) while the study focused on English-language content only, the dataset included videos originating from outside the US; 5) platforms such as TikTok are rapidly evolving, meaning this analysis can only represent a snapshot in time, not the current or future landscape of the platform. (Parra et al, 2025)
Given these clearly stated limitations, we can still gain some perspectives from this research. It is widely acknowledged that social media platforms, where users of all types and with different motivations are able to post content, is an empowering force, but one that can also be used to spread misinformation. Practitioners of all types benefit from becoming more aware of the specter of health misinformation that lies on social media, and would do well to find ways to proactively engage patients on this topic. The fact that the authors of this study found that the preponderance of breastfeeding videos they identified on TikTok were indeed evidence-based is a hopeful finding.
References
DynaMed. Breastfeeding. EBSCO Information Services. Accessed August 26, 2025. https://www.dynamed.com/management/breastfeeding
Parra, A., Ramirez, J., von Ash, T., & Lebron, C. N. (2025). Fact-Checking #Breastfeeding: Analyzing TikTok Videos Related to Breastfeeding Information. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2025.07.008
U.S. Breastfeeding Committee. About Us. Retrieved August 26, 2025 from https://www.usbreastfeeding.org/about-the-usbc.html
